BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
                         Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

                              
          
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          |Bill No:  |SB 379                           |Hearing    | 4/15/15 |
          |          |                                 |Date:      |         |
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          |Author:   |Jackson                          |Tax Levy:  |No       |
          |----------+---------------------------------+-----------+---------|
          |Version:  |4/7/15                           |Fiscal:    |Yes      |
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          |Consultant|Weinberger                                            |
          |:         |                                                      |
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                     CLIMATE CHANGE HAZARDS AND LAND USE PLANNING



          Requires cities and counties to review and update their general  
          plans' safety elements to address risks posed by climate change.


           Background and Existing Law

           Every county and city must adopt a general plan with seven  
          mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing,  
          conservation, open space, noise, and safety.  Except for the  
          housing elements, state law does not require counties and cities  
          to regularly revise their general plans.  Cities and counties'  
          major land use decisions --- subdivisions, zoning, public works  
          projects, use permits --- must be consistent with their general  
          plans.  Development decisions must carry out and not obstruct a  
          general plan's policies.

          To help local officials interpret these statutory requirements,  
          the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) publishes  
          General Plan Guidelines.  OPR's Guidelines recommend the  
          information that local planners should collect, suggest goals,  
          policies, and objectives that local general plans could adopt,  
          and list a wide range of feasible implementation measures to  
          carry out those local goals.  OPR is expected to release updated  
          General Plan Guidelines later in 2015.

          The Planning and Zoning Law says that the safety element's  







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          purpose is to protect the community from unreasonable risks from  
          geologic hazards, flooding, and wildland and urban fires.  In  
          2007, the Legislature expanded the safety elements' contents for  
          flood hazards (AB 162, Wolk, 2007).  Similarly, in 2012, the  
          Legislature expanded the safety elements' contents for fire  
          risks on land classified as SRA and very high fire hazard  
          severity zones (SB 1241, Kehoe, 2012).  The Wolk and Kehoe bills  
          require safety elements to contain:
                 Specified information about flood hazards and fire  
               hazards.

                 Based on that information, a set of comprehensive goals,  
               policies, and objectives to protect against unreasonable  
               flood risks and fire risks.

                 To carry out those goals, a set of feasible  
               implementation measures.

          In recent years, local officials have started to focus more  
          attention on the risks posed to communities throughout  
          California by the potential effects of global climate change,  
          including increased temperatures, sea level rise, a reduced  
          winter snowpack, altered precipitation patterns, and more  
          frequent storm events.  Some recent state climate change  
          planning documents have suggested that local general plans  
          should be amended to incorporate climate change adaptation and  
          resilience policies.




           Proposed Law

           Senate Bill 379 requires cities and counties to review and  
          update their safety elements to address climate adaptation and  
          resiliency strategies applicable to the city or county.  Local  
          officials must act the next time they revise their housing  
          elements on or after January 1, 2017.

          SB 379 requires cities and counties to consider the Governor's  
          Office of Planning and Research General Plan Guidelines and  
          expands the required contents of safety elements to include:
                 A vulnerability assessment that identifies what risks  
               climate change poses to the local jurisdiction and  








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               specified information about climate change risks,  
               including:

                  o         Information from the web-based Cal-Adapt tool;

                  o         Information from the most recent version of  
                    the California Adaptation Planning Guide;

                  o         Information from local agencies on the types  
                    of assets, resources, and populations that will be  
                    sensitive to various climate change exposures;

                  o         Information from local agencies on their  
                    current ability to deal with the impacts of climate  
                    change;

                  o         Historical data on natural events/hazards,  
                    including locally prepared maps of areas subject to  
                    previous risk, areas that are vulnerable, and sites  
                    that have been repeatedly damaged; 

                  o         Existing and planned development in identified  
                    at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities,  
                    and essential public facilities; and

                  o         Public agencies with responsibility for the  
                    protection of public health, safety, and the  
                    environment. 

                 Based on that information, a set of adaptation and  
               resilience goals, policies, and objectives for the  
               protection of the community from climate change risks  
               identified in the vulnerability assessment.

                 To carry out those goals, policies, and objectives, a  
               set of feasible implementation measures, including:

                  o         Methods to avoid or minimize climate change  
                    impacts associated with new uses of land.

                  o         The relocation, when feasible, of new  
                    essential public facilities outside of at-risk areas,  
                    including hospitals and health care facilities,  
                    emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and  








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                    emergency communications facilities, or identifying  
                    construction methods or other methods to minimize  
                    damage if these facilities are located in at-risk  
                    areas.

                  o         The designation of adequate infrastructure if  
                    a new development is located in an at-risk area,  
                    including safe access for emergency vehicles.

                  o         Guidelines for working cooperatively with  
                    relevant public agencies.

          To comply with SB 379's requirements, a city or county can  
          update its safety element by attaching or making reference to a  
          plan or document separate from the general plan that that  
          fulfills commensurate goals and objectives and contains  
          information required by the bill. 


           State Revenue Impact

           No estimate.




           Comments

           1.  Purpose of the bill  .  Comprehensive land use planning serves  
          two purposes.  First, it helps public officials avoid problems  
          when they make decisions about the future.  Second, it helps  
          public officials solve past problems.  The Legislature promoted  
          both of those purposes in 2007 and 2012 when it increased the  
          local planning requirements for flood and fire hazards.  
          Legislators required local general plans' safety elements to  
          present information, set goals and policies based on that  
          information, and come up with feasible measures to carry out  
          those goals and policies.  That three-part approach helps city  
          councils and county supervisors make better land use decisions  
          that avoid or minimize the risks of flooding and fires.  SB 379  
          applies the same three-part approach to the risks associated  
          with climate change. California's 2009 Climate Adaptation  
          Strategy recommends that "communities with General Plans and  
          Local Coastal Plans should begin, when possible, to amend their  








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          plans to assess climate change impacts, identify areas most  
          vulnerable to these impacts, and develop reasonable and rational  
          risk reduction strategies."  Using the accepted three-part  
          approach to land use planning, SB 379 will help local officials  
          make better land use decisions in anticipation of climate  
          change's impacts.  

           2.   Who pays  ?  The Legislature first required cities and  
          counties to adopt general plans in 1937 (AB 722, Weber, 1937).   
          Over the last 70 years, legislators have insisted on  
          increasingly detailed local plans.  The recent trend has been to  
          require general plans to pay more attention to specialized  
          topics: San Joaquin Valley's air quality (AB 170, Reyes, 2003),  
          wildland fires (AB 3065, Kehoe, 2004, and AB 1241, Kehoe, 2012),  
          tribal cultural places (SB 18, Burton, 2004), military operating  
          areas (SB 926, Knight, 2004), and flood hazards (AB 162, Wolk,  
          2007).  When land use problems hit the headlines, the  
          Legislature imposes new planning chores on cities and counties.   
          But, California doesn't invest State General Fund money in  
          long-range, comprehensive, local planning.  The burden of  
          funding these new state mandated local programs falls on local  
          general funds and on the property owners who apply for  
          development permits.  SB 379 is another well-intentioned, but  
          unfunded, state mandated local program.

          3.   Other planning documents  .  General plans' safety elements  
          are not the only planning documents that can play a role in  
          promoting climate change resilience and adaptability in local  
          communities.  Many communities prepare hazard mitigation plans  
          pursuant to requirements specified in federal law.  Other  
          communities have added a separate climate change element into  
          their general plan documents.  SB 379 allows a safety element to  
          incorporate, by reference, other planning documents that fulfill  
          the same purposes specified by the bill.  Legislators may also  
          wish to consider whether climate change resilience and  
          adaptation should be incorporated into other general plan  
          elements, like the conservation element or land use element.

          4.   The great unknown  .  Land use planning stakeholders  
          throughout California are anxiously awaiting the Governor's  
          Office of Planning and Research's updated general plan  
          guidelines.  The update that is expected to be released later  
          this year will likely contain extensive new advice for  
          incorporating climate change considerations into local  








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          governments' land use planning efforts.  SB 379 specifically  
          requires local governments to consider OPR's guidelines when  
          amending their safety elements.  But, legislators may wish to  
          consider whether SB 379's provisions will need to be amended  
          after the updated guidelines are released to ensure that the  
          bill's provisions are consistent with OPR's document.

          5.   Double-referred  .  The Senate Rules Committee has ordered a  
          double-referral of SB 379 --- first to the Senate Governance &  
          Finance Committee which has policy jurisdiction over the land  
          use statutes, and then to the Senate Environmental Quality  
          Committee. 


           Support and  
          Opposition   (4/9/15)


           Support  :  Audubon California; California League of Conservation  
          Voters; Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation; Nature  
          Conservancy.


           Opposition  :  Unknown.



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